You Be the Critic: LEGEND OF THE SEEKER

If your childhood was anything like mine, an inordinate (read: potentially unhealthy) number of Saturday afternoons were spent sprawled in front of the television (Lego in hand) as you reveled in the fun and adventure that was HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS and XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS.

Which is why, it should come as no surprise that when I heard about Sam Raimi’s (SPIDER-MAN) attempt to revitalize the once popular mid-90’s heroic genre (complete with faux British accents) with LEGEND OF THE SEEKER(Click for official site), this TV Addict was to say the least, mildly intrigued.

That said, thanks to twenty plus hours of television a week and an upcoming guest spot on Tim Goodman’s TV Talk Machine Podcast (Seriously, much more on that later, trust me!) this TV Addict is a very busy man.

Begging the question, to those of you like myself who look back on Raimi’s cheesy 90’s adventure shows with a similar fondness. Is LEGEND OF THE SEEKER a worthy follow up to HERCULES and XENA? (And more importantly… where do we think my parent’s stored all that lego?)

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I love Legend of the Seeker. The two leads, Craig Horner and Bridget Regan, are awesome. Zedd the wizard is perfect for the role, and according to the book series, there’s some shocking reveals ahead involving the bad dude, Darken Rahl and heroic Richard.

Definitely worth a look. Production values are very high, and the New Zealand scenery is exceptional. Very similar to the Lord of the Rings feel.

Monica M

I got this late one night, like after midnight, and found it fun. However, I can not find when it plays regularly in my area. I miss Hercules and Xena, they were cheesy fun.

TVFan

It completely harkened back to my childhood. Sopranos it ain’t, but tons of fun… definitely.

Scott

http://www.legendoftheseeker.com/ Just go there and up in the top right corner they have a option to put in your zip code, and it tells you when and what channel you can watch it on..

As for the review. I was skeptic at first. My dad was an avid watcher of Hercules, and Xena, and I caught it as much as possible but I was a young lad. When I got it started I couldn’t stop. It’s great. So addictive.

Desa

LOTS is so much better than Hercules and Xena (and I loved these shows). It’s entertaining and addictive and the characters are awesome.

dDub

“complete with faux British accents”

I wish. It’s more like complete with faux American accents with most of the cast being Kiwi’s, Aussie’s, South African, etc…

Sad too because this genre goes well with any sort of non Western English accents. So for me, things just seem less mythical and though I’ve watch each episode so far, I really don’t find it all that good. I guess it’s the fact the I like the genre that will keep me slightly interested, for now…

dDub

Oh forgot to mention, the only non Western style English accent that I can remember is the main antagonist so far. The pulled that old trick out of the clever bag — how lame is that?

Wally

Based on the books is a big stretch. For the rest they managed to make a low B Series not very interesting flat good versus bad story.
Great scenery acting not that bad scripting faulty and very little humor or human interest so far.

Chris

For those of us who are great fans of the novels of Terry Goodkind, and have waited most of this year for this tv series to happen, this has been a disappointment. We knew it would differ from the books; but the departure is to much. This may be a very good series, but it will need to stand on its own; it is not the story we love, and Craig Horner is not the Richard we know. But, Zedd is GREAT!!

ladywolf

please what are you people smokin cause i would love to have some.the only thing that makes LotS anything like Hercules or Zena is Raimi and New Zealand.. The only thing from the books that are right are names and maybe places. As far as im concerned they have taken an awesome book and made it a joke.know better then what they did to eargon.they should all maybe make a call to England and check with J.K.Rowlings to find out what it takes to turn a book into something worthy of saying based on a book.im so disappointed.

I enjoyed the show very much. I enjoy the whole medieval genre. I don’t know the books, but have learned most movies can’t follow the books. disappointingly so, but it’s a fact. So get over it and enjoy the show for what it is. We need more wholesome, entertaining shows that the entire family can watch together, enough with the rich teens, sex, and bedroom talk all over.

I read the books – loved them, even though Terry is VERY wordy and can be snore inducing when he goes off on his philosophical tangents. Heard about the series, was so excited I wanted to pop. Totally wasn’t sure about the casting…never watched Xena or Herc.

I LOVE this show. No it’s not like the books and frankly, that’s a good thing – the show is giving us whole new world for the characters to play in with new stories, new characters to meet, and new adventures – all of the while they maintain their core integrity as the characters from the novels. The books and the TV show are 2 separate entities, purists just have to deal with that and move on. Both are enjoyable in their own different ways. The series has wonderful fresh young talent, Craig and Bridget positively ooze w/ chemistry and the amazing Bruce Spence (Road Warrior) is a riot as Zedd, The great FX, beautiful lived in looking sets and costumes, stunning sweeping vistas/landscapes, and gorgeous music make for a very enjoyable hour of TV watching. The sword choreography is fun and Richard and Kahlan are as fantastically engaging as they are in the books.

Yes Sam Raimi/Rob Tappert made changes…yes the show is different, but that’s a good thing, it’s fresh and is intended to introduce to new fans of fantasy the world created by Terry Goodkind. The show’s Goodkind light, whereas the books are dark and each week – the episodes just get better and richer.

Barron

I think that LotS is an absolute travesty, it has really put a dent in the love that I have for the Sword of Truth series. If they had stuck to the original storyline then it might have been a passable endeavour but they havn’t and it literally makes my skin crawl when I read the synopsis for future episodes. Those people who havn’t read the books probably wouldnt understand what its like to see a book series that you thouroughly enjoyed reading being dragged through the dirt. Plus I think the actors that they have chosen to play the characters are entirely unsuited for the roles. Poor show all round.

Reason

Please, please people, understand that the way this show must develop episode by episode is much different than a book; glaring plot deviations aside think for a moment and try to understand how over the course of many episodes the bigger picture might be revealed in a timely manner. Most shows these days string the viewer along, not revealing anything until pertinent so why should this be any different. I doubted the show at the outset, but its beginning to make sense.

jgh

The show has the same cheesy-ness as herc and xena, that is for sure. It completely lacks the feel required to claim it is based on the novels. The personas of the characters in the show are completely off from the characters in the books. Richard is much bigger and humble in the novels to say the least, and Kahlan is a much more commanding and strong feminine character. Zedd is way off the mark. The story line has obviously been ignored and the show seems to keep getting farther from telling it as it should be. Looking back at LOTR movies, sure there were deviations from the Tolkien novels but they moved the story along in the same direction as the novels, and deviated far less. For one that has never read the novels this show may be warm and fuzzy reminiscence of old Herc and Xena, to one who has it is bordering on blasphemy. Goodkind has created a world un-like any in the genre before him and now this show has portrayed it as the old Herc and Xena cheese land.

James

I agree with Barron, this show is a travesty. I cherish the memories of the great adventures told within the novels. However LOTS is a farce, for those reading this, do yourselves a favor and read the book! You will then see that whats been done to this great story is equivalent to handing a box of crayons to a seven year old and asking them to recreate the Mona Lisa.

Having watched the first two episodes feel as though I’ve dirtied myself. What makes me feel even more dirty is the fact that Goodkind himself stated he did not want the book to be turned into a movie as he thought it would not do the books justice in terms of telling the whole story.

If they had just stuck to the key plot points in the book I would have been overjoyed to follow this B grade effort. However all that is left of the story from “Wizard’s First Rule” is the an echo of something that was once great. Let sword of truth RIP and quit pissing on its grave 🙁

Pisces95

Legend of the Seeker is one of the best shows I have seen in a while. I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ziana

I’m so happy this isn’t like all the other shows because all I ever see now are cops, doctors or reality shows…Finally a Great Show!

Ziana

And for those who have read the books: Think Outside The Box!

Jennifer

I love the books, the series is great (of course I like the books better). The only thing I personally feel it falls a little short on is Richard, literally. The books give us a mental picture of a “big” guy; the actor just doesn’t fit the bill in that respect. Otherwise, they do a great job. Zedd is right on. Love it.

JOJO

I enjoyed the show…and i’ve read the books…! it’s something else, i was disapointed in the begining then it was just addictive cause i wanted to know to what point it would be different from the books

suzi

i watch every episode and i can’t wait for the new season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fritz

Ladywolf, chris, baron and jgh went to the same school of Terry Goodkind that I did. What a shame. I was so looking forward to the TV series. Terry must have been paid handsomely to keep his mouth shut. Oh I’ll watch the rest untill it fizzles out. I understand that people who have not read the book may enjoy the series. I believe the writers have taken a great story and turned it into a good one. I’ve seen it before. Writers want it to be their story not Goodkind’s. That’s why they are TV writers.

Kai

I truly believe that Legend of the Seeker is the best tv serie i've ever seen… it is just not a normal tv serie.. and definitely worth your while. (The books are better) i hope they make a season 3 soon =3 (i live in holland i watch everything on the internet)

Firedearth

Enjoy Zed, in fact the series is good as a whole, one major letdown for me is the American accents, just doesn’t fit.